Satisfies Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI) Program Implementation

To implement the Graduate School SARI Program requirements, the Department of Meteorology created this new course titled Development and Ethics as a Graduate Student in the Atmospheric Sciences (Meteo 591). The objectives of this one-credit course are several-fold:

document student participation in and completion of the Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Course provided by the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) via the Office of Research Protections (ORP) SARI Research Portal accessed at http://www.research.psu.edu/training/sari/.

provide for a minimum of five hours of discussion on RCR topics relevant to the atmospheric sciences, including, but not limited to, i) acquisition, management, sharing, and ownership of data, ii) publication practices and responsible authorship, iii) conflict of interest and commitment, iv) research misconduct, v) peer review, vi) mentor/trainee responsibilities, and vii) collaborative science.

Disclaimer: The organization of METEO 591 is based heavily on IBIOS 591 and considerable input from the current instructor of IBIOS 591, Dr. John Hanold. We are grateful to Dr. Hanold for allowing us to use significant portions of the content and organizational structure of IBIOS 591 for our own purposes. We have approval from the Graduate School to arrange METEO 591 along the lines of IBIOS 591 as long as Dr. Hanold supports our actions, which he does.

The class was originally adapted for METEO 591 by Dr. Eugene Clothiaux. Much of the original material remains even in the class this semester.

Task Group 5 – Mentor and Trainee Responsibilities (Working within the Hierarchy)

Task Group 6 – Peer Review(Duty to our Field)

Task Group 7 –Research Misconduct (Doing Business the Right Way)

Diversity in the Sciences

Wrapping it up

Task groups are organized around clusters of related topics. I have invited a guest speaker for each task group. This speaker will introduce the topic in the first 30 – 40 minutes. Task groups members should prepared to lead a discussion related to their assigned topic areas that incorporates material looked at prior to the meeting and the guest speaker talk. The objective is to develop mature, interesting, and occasionally provocative discussions. Here are some guidelines:

PowerPoint presentations are strongly discouraged.

Keep canned comments to a minimum.

Prepare a number of activities to keep discussion going after the initial round of questions. Short case studies are useful to encourage the class to think through an abstract issue in a practical context. Staged debates are good at stimulating discussion. Another good technique is to ask the class a question, poll the results, and then discuss the differences in people’s answers.

Avoid spending too much time discussing facts, laws, and regulations. The primary purpose of this class is not to consider cutting-edge technological developments, nor to learn how to plot a safe course through intellectual property laws and institutional review boards. Scientists are uniquely positioned to influence the development of our culture; this class is designed to encourage junior scientists to consider this role carefully. Scientists often appear more comfortable talking about technical issues than about the social implications of their work, but it is imperative that scientists train themselves to engage their fellow citizens in serious public policy debates.

A Passing Grade of Satisfactory (R) is Earned by the Following:

Participate as a discussion leader in a Task Group

Present and participate in the Task Group discussions led by others

No unexcused absences; there will be a roll call for each class period in order to document completion of the SARI program discussion-hour requirements

Completion of each CITI Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research course module by the beginning of the relevant class, having earned a grade of 100% on the quiz associated with this module; come to each class with at least one question and one comment on the completed module

Failing to Earn a Satisfactory Grade of (R) a Student is Assigned an Unsatisfactory Grade (C) and Must Retake the Course the Following Year

Complete: CITI RCR Course with a grade of 100% (The Penn State requirement is 80% but there is no reason why one cannot work a bit harder to a grade of 100%.)

Print: Course Completion Report (Turn in to Karen Corl when finished)

The Bottom Line: The primacy of honesty, objectivity and the common good

Be Part of the Solution and Not Part of the Problem:Stand on your own two feetDo not be overly reactiveHave the ability to calm yourself downTolerate discomfort in order to come cleanTreat others with respect, including consideration of their points of view